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The Andromeda Experience – 5

Right, now I’m into the story a bit more. Having cleared out Eos and got as far as that can go for the time being, I did all the enforced conversation stuff on the Tempest and then decided to immerse myself in the next bit of the story by flying off to Aya, home of the Angara (I could have sworn that was a kind of sweater). The Angara are a brave cat/snake like race who speak perfect English in a range of accents ranging from Johannesburg to Kent. I met Jaal, who comes off like a cat/snake version of Jaavik from ME3.

After a fruitless meeting with his boss,I was told that I needed to clear up some of their mess in order to earn his trust and get what I want. I was given a choice of two worlds: Havarl or Voeld, where this brave race seems to have problems they are incapable of solving without human intervention. I chose to go to Havarl first.

Havarl is dense with foliage and looks like the kind of place where everything wants to eat you. There are giant, glowing mushrooms and it didn’t take long before I ran into more cat/snake people who told me about ‘local wildlife’. Portentous much? Sure enough, it didn’t take long before Peebee, Cora and I were attacked by some scuttling things, invisible, running things and I swear there was a kind of velociraptor (see below) but I’d already killed it when it was behind a tree so I didn’t get a good look at it. In the jungle there are also a wealth of Remnant ruins and ‘rebels’ of some description who shoot at you. I keep forgetting that I’m not at Level 20 strength yet in the single-player campaign so I keep dying because I think I can go toe to toe with crowds of things when I really can’t.

You’re my boy, Blue!

I want a Reegar Carbine! I’ll have to craft one. Or should I go with something different. I overuse it on Multiplayer so maybe I should go with something different. I may go back to my trusted Sniper Rifle and Scorpion arrangement from ME3.

The South African cat/snake person told me she needed me to fetch her research data from the ruins of her lab. This epic quest took me all of about a minute. Her lab was a short (and relatively safe) walk from the main compound. After killing a few scuttlers, I found her computer trashed and inoperable and she directed me to the possibility of tapping into an underground hub. That was about another twenty yards away and then it was done.

“You’re so brave,” she said over the communicator.

“It was nothing,” I replied. It really was nothing. There are loads of armed cat/snake people there. A team of them could have easily done this.

That’s when things get more interesting. I found a beautiful canyon (the graphics and vistas really are great in this game) into which I could descend. In there, I discovered lots of things to kill (including the beasties pictured below), pick up or explore. This was a decent chance to have some combat, level up and gather resources. I also found a Turian escape pod. Hey, Turians! I thought for a good few minutes that it was the first time I’d met a Turian in this game then I remembered I’d met loads. I’ve even got one in my crew (Cor Vett or something). They’re just not as memorable as Garrus. Ah, Garrus, wish you were here old friend! If only just to calibrate something.

one was bad enough, then it’s mate turned up!

As I’ve wandered around, a few more side quests and loyalty missions have opened up. There’s quite a bit to keep track of and I like the more open world nature of things. I am slightly concerned that I won’t do things in the right order and have an ‘insane-Liara’ or ‘melting Kelly’ situation come up somewhere down the line. I suppose that’s a good thing, though.

I did plenty of exploring on Havarl and solved most of their problems, then it came time to explore some of the Remnant stuff on the planet. Ugh, by the way. There was another Sudoku picture puzzle to do. Did I mention that I hate Sudoku with a fiery passion? There is no way that I am wasting time figuring out these things. I have a full time job and I’m a parent. When they crop up, I’m straight on to Google. I figure SAM would just work these out for me easily anyway in reality, so why should I bother?

I climbed to the top of a high tower and was gifted some wonderful views of the planet and its large, flying things. I also managed to find myself some better armour.

there are some beautiful vistas to be enjoyed

I was given some more stuff to do which led to me descending into the planet to dispatch some more Remnant including my first Destroyer of the single-player campaign. I ripped some video off it and you can see it below.

I’ve really enjoyed Havarl so far. There’s loads to do, it’s beautiful and you can find loads of things lying around. I’m sure I’m going to be able to craft some quality gear now, as soon as I finish the last of the jobs for the cat/snake people. They seem uniquely incapable and constantly surprised by the fact that someone can actually do what they need doing. I mean it’s not as if it’s the Battle for Earth in Mass Effect 3 with three Banshees at a time or anything like that. As long as you keep near cover, which is abundant, you are usually OK.

So, I’m getting well into this now and seem to have weaned myself off multiplayer for the time being.